Once Upon a Kiss by Max Hudson

Author:Max Hudson [Hudson, Max]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The energy in the room was like breathing in toxic smoke and having to sit there and act like that was a natural thing to do. I numbly followed Bertrand’s lead as he sat down at the table at a place setting. I sat down next to him separated by a seat from the Green Man. His eyes were just how I remembered them: they were like two emerald jewels encrusted in his face. He was a well-built man, broad chested, thick with muscle. He seemed shorter than Bertrand but he had more of a presence than him. He smiled at us as we sat down. I tried to see if he recognized me, but if he did, I couldn’t see it in his eyes and he wasn’t saying anything.

“You have a guest dear brother, quite rude to not introduce him.”

“This is Gavin Griffin, one of the dealers who works at the casino, and a dear friend.”

The animosity between them was thick even as they exchanged pleasant looks. If I hated someone, I usually told them. I wasn’t one for tact after all. But all of this veiled tension seemed worse than just saying what you felt outright.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me back?”

I saw Bertrand’s jaw clench for a moment. “Gavin, this is my older brother Felix.”

“Nice...to...meet...you?” I said, each word more unsure than the last. I had no idea they had another sibling. He looked like them, green eyes auburn brown hair, but it seemed like there was bad blood.

“Half-brother,” Felix was quick to point out.

“Half-brother,” Bertrand added tensely.

“I’m sorry for arriving without much notice, but I was in town for the gala and decided to stick around and see the sights since I haven’t been in Las Vegas in such a long time.”

“No need to apologize Felix, since you decided to come anyway.”

I looked at Claudia who was sitting across the table and refusing to make eye contact with anyone. This wasn’t how I pictured how I would meet the Green Man. I thought there would be more horses and roses involved, or something I now realized was an over-romantic daydream. What I wanted now was to escape, but besides running as fast as I could toward the direction of the Vegas Strip, I didn’t really have options.

Some servants brought out some bowls of soup and it was thankfully silent as we all got settled with our first course. God how many courses could there be for me to suffer through? I wanted to have a nice dinner with Claudia and Bertrand, I was looking forward to it. Now, I was dreading every second. Why did they seem to hate their brother?

“What have you been up to lately?” Felix asked.

“We’ve been running the casino, as always. It is turning quite the profit,” Bertrand said as he stirred his soup with a look of deadly concentration.

“And you Claudia? Have you found something to do?”

“I work in guest services,” she said in a small voice. I had never seen Claudia so devoid of energy.

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